Flutter

Flutter: Neuf (1/2)

"Nora! Look at me! I'm a spaceman!" Peyton shouted to Nora from where he stood on top of a boulder.

"And what a wonderful spaceman you make." Nora replied cheerily, bemused by the young boy's wild imagination. She had taken them out of the house for some playtime after they'd all finished lunch. She was now seated at the patio table, sipping tea under the warm sun of May.

 "Anna you can't get up here! This is my rock!" Peyton said to his younger sister, who was attempting (and failing)  to climb a rock.

"But I wanna be a spaceman too." She whimpered, obviously put out that her little self was no match for the much larger boulder.

"You can't be a spaceman. You're a girl!" Peyton jeered, making Annabelle's face crumple.

"Hey!" Nora stood up quickly, and made her way through the yard to where the two siblings were. "That's no way to talk to your sister." She said tersely, looking directly at Peyton so he could tell that she was displeased. "She can be anything she wants to be." 

"He's absorbing way too much of Quinton." She thought, worriedly. 

"But I don't like it when she copies me." He said pouting.

"She copies you because you're her big brother. She looks up to you. You have to be a role model, which means teaching and encouraging her. Now apologize, Peyton."

Peyton harrumphed, and crossed his arms, unwilling to follow Nora's request.

"Peyton Key's!" Nora said,  her voice was low.

"Fine." He huffed. "I'm sorry, Annabelle."

"That's better." Nora said, stroking Peyton's dark hair. "Now, let's wash up. You've been out for long enough. Don't want you two to get sunburned."

Nora lifted Peyton up and off the rock, setting him down on the ground next to his sister.

"Me too!" Annabelle said, waving her little arms in the air.

"There she goes again..." Peyton mumbled.

"Of course, Anna. Up we go!" Nora laughed, grabbing Annabelle and whisking her into the air, much to Anna's merriment.

"There we go. Now time to go inside." Nora said.

With Annabelle on one hip, Nora took Peyton's hand and walked back to the doors of the estate. Just as they neared the patio, they stopped when Blaine came out of the household and stood by the entrance.

"Daddy!" Peyton screamed. He dashed towards his father who scooped him up.

"Hello, son." He said, happily. "Has he been behaving?" He asked Nora. 

"For the most part." Nora said, handing the squirming Annabelle to her father. "We weren't expecting you back so early."

Blaine gave his kids a big hug and kids Nora briefly on the cheek.

"I wasn't expecting to come back so soon myself. Quinton and I settled the affairs early. Speaking of which, I'd like to discuss something with you."

"Anything at all." Nora responded.

"Off you two go. Inside. Find Mary. I'll be with you two shortly." Blaine said, placing the two clinging children down on the ground and shutting the French doors behind them. He turned back to Nora, who gazed at him quizzically, not sure about what was going to be said.

"I saw how you disciplined, Peyton. Let me tell you that no other has managed to do so, before."

"It just took a bit of elbow grease." Nora said, shrugging her shoulders.